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The Herald, July 4, 1979

PERTH. – Mrs Janet Hansmann was giving her 15-month-old son Johnny a bath when the infant got three of his fingers stuck in the drain, the Australian Associated Press reported yesterday. 

Mrs Hansmann couldn’t get them free, so she called the fire brigade. The firemen couldn’t free Johnny either.  

So, they called an ambulance. The ambulance men, in turn, called a doctor, who had no better luck. 

They decided the only solution was to take Johnny to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. So, Johnny and his attached bathtub went to the hospital in an ambulance. 

The doctors in the casualty section decided to call a specialist. So, they rang a plumber. He removed the plug fitting from Johnny’s fingers in the hospital’s maintenance department. 

Johnny spent the night in the hospital with swollen fingers. His parents took the bathtub home and called in another plumber to reinstall it. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY 

 For any situation, it is always good to call in the right person or to utilise the right tool for the job for it to be done properly. 

The solution to some of the problems that we face in life may be simpler and less costly to fix. In the story above, the solution lay in removing the plug-fitting, instead of taking the bath tub to hospital and having it reinstalled. 

Different places, even those that are seemingly safe, can be hazardous to one’s health, just as the tub became unsafe for the boy after his fingers were stuck in the drain. 

Doctors and nurses do not always have the solutions to medical challenges. They sometimes have to rely on other professionals or specialists.